As any athlete knows, it is difficult, if not impossible, to overcome an early disadvantage. In WHEN, author Daniel Pink writes about how perfect timing is often a matter of optimizing the beginning, middle, and end of projects. One of Pink’s most important observations is that getting off to a bad start is likely to […]
What to Do When You Can’t Relate
When you find it difficult to connect with someone, try to see the world from their point of view. Empathy is easy enough in theory. But in practice, the act of imagining the world through someone else’s eyes doesn’t always come naturally. Usually, the more distant and different a person’s life is from your own, the […]
A Tour of Silicon Valley
For some, Silicon Valley is a place to live and work. For others, the Valley seems so alien that it might as well be another planet. This rift has perhaps never been so clear as it is in a trio of pieces in the New York Times that ran this week about how parents in […]
Walter Isaacson’s Renaissance Men
Walter Isaacson was once labeled a “protean biographer” by the New York Times. The phrase was a clever reference to the way his writing style shifts to accommodate the demands of a given subject. As a professor of history, a journalist, a network news leader, and the head of a respected think tank, Isaacson is […]
Four Myths About Launching a Startup
Starting a new business is difficult, and it seems like every successful entrepreneur has his or her own recipe for success. But if you’re deep in the process of developing (or running) a new company, all those books about other people’s experiences may seem more overwhelming than useful. To help entrepreneurs or would-be entrepreneurs make […]
Four Styles of Self-Improvement
Self-help books are a surprisingly diverse genre, with styles to suit almost any personality. That means that what works for someone else may not work for you, so endorsements from friends and magazines aren’t necessarily very helpful. Too often people invest a lot of time in attempting a lifestyle makeover without determining if it truly […]
Get the Life You Want in 365 Days or Less
Goal-setting requires at least one lofty dream, but it’s a surprisingly precise science. Experts say it’s not enough to just decide to work toward a promotion or save for a new car. Big goals need to be conceptualized down to the last detail, an elaborate act of imagination that makes it easier to form a […]
Going Gluten-Free: A half-baked idea?
Ten years ago, if anyone even thought to hold the bun on their burger orders, it was to cut carbs, not because they were worried about the harmful effects of gluten. But even fast food restaurants are adding lettuce-wrapped options to their menus these days. How did gluten — the protein that gives wheat products […]
Star Wars
Space has always occupied a special place in the human imagination. From the landscape of literature and movies to the realities of hard science, it carries heavy symbolic weight. Progress, mystery, loneliness, death — space has come to represent some of our most cherished ambitions and private fears. But maybe most of all its exploration […]
Deep Work
Cal Newport isn’t a trained productivity expert, but he has the kind of work habits that inspire equal parts mockery and awe at dinner parties. He barely uses his smartphone. He only checks his email a few times a day. And he always — always — leaves the office by 5:30 p.m. In Newport’s unusually serious […]
